


The Ugly Christmas Sweater Conundrum

by mollykakes



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Christmas, F/M, Gen, Ugly Christmas Sweaters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-02
Updated: 2017-01-02
Packaged: 2018-09-14 04:10:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9160717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mollykakes/pseuds/mollykakes
Summary: Darcy wants to start new Christmas traditions now that they're all on the run. However, her family has a different plan, one she hates.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Little_Plebe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Little_Plebe/gifts).



> This was written as part of the Steve/Darcy Christmas Fic/Art Exchange. Little_Plebe gave me three great prompts, but this one is the one that stuck out to me. These were the prompts:
> 
> (1) Tony hosts a winter themed/christmas costume ball. Darcy dresses up as Elsa. Steve is Hans. "What's wrong with Hans? He's a perfectly good character. Deliciously evil." / "You're not evil, Steve." / "Anything is possible if you just believe." / "Gee, Cap."
> 
> (2) Cuddling indoors while it snows outside. Banter, please. I love how people converse when they're just lazying around. I don't mind the story beginning or ending with smut but I love me some fun banter in between.
> 
> (3) "I'm sorry I told my family about you. Now we're going to get matching ugly sweaters for each of the 12 days of Christmas."
> 
>  
> 
> I went with the Ugly Christmas sweaters. I love ugly christmas sweaters. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy Little_Plebe!

* * *

 

Steve stopped before entering their apartment in the safe house (which was more like a giant compound) that T’Challahhad provided for them in the aftermath. He hadn’t expected Darcy to appear just 24 hours after, well, everything, a duffle bag on her shoulder, announcing “I think the Rebellion needs me more than the Dark Side,” kissing him on the forehead and introducing herself to Bucky as his girlfriend. Bucky looked at him, confused. Darcy, as always, continued on.

“Oh, did he have to kiss Sharon? Totally cool. I had to kiss Sam once so he could get me out of trouble. We don’t exactly advertise our relationship, you know? Oh, BTWs Spangles, I hacked this out of Friday before I left” She pulled a thumb drive out of her cleavage. “– go get Wanda. And the boys too, if you have to, but definitely Wanda.”

“How’d…”

“Natasha. Who else? Janie’s with Stark on this because she’s mad at Thor again and Stark funds – anyway, while you were having your own civil war I was waging a very different one and so here I am. I’m unemployed now so you have to take care of me. While you go get our friends from a psychopath who sent the Army to my college campus to capture our friend, I will translate any and all science needed to Bucky while completely geeking out over the fact that I am in Wakanda right now. You know I wrote my thesis on the political structure of Wakanda and why America needs to get over its imperialist and racist BS and kiss a lot more ass…”

“I like you.” Bucky told her.

“The feeling is mutual.”

“And I am very interested in this thesis…” T’Challa intoned from his space in the doorway to the right, having gone completely unnoticed by Darcy.

 

That had been 6 months ago. She’d given up everything, including her family to join him after everything. He’d only met her parents once, but they were nice.  A little cold and distant, but generally nice. They seemed to understand why their daughter wasn’t able to get home for Christmas, but he felt bad.

Darcy seemed relieved not to be going home. She loved Christmas and made it very clear that they were starting their own traditions even if they were in hiding and “technically some of us here are international fugitives.”

Which is why he was surprised to see her staring at a box of Christmas decorations in horror.

“What’s wrong?”

“I thought I could escape, but no, they found out a way to ruin Christmas even here.”

“Who’s ruining Christmas?”

“My family.”

“I don’t think…”

“Steve –“ she pulled out what had to be ugliest sweater he’d ever seen in his entire life. “I’m so sorry I told them about you. Now we have ugly Christmas sweaters for each of the 12 days of Christmas. There are 11 more where these came from, and each one looks uglier than the one before it. These are yours. This box –“ She gestured to the unopened box next to it. “has matching sweaters for me.”

“We don’t have to wear these, right?”

“We’ll have to take at least 12 pictures – just us in the morning, no one else has to know. Why do they think this a good idea?”

“Does any one think this is a good idea?”

“My parents do. I just –“ She sighed. “I love them. But I wanted to use this as a reason to create my own traditions. Our own traditions. And here they are…”

“We don’t have to wear them.”

“You haven’t read the passive aggressive letter that goes with them.”

“I thought they were ok with you being here.”

“I thought they were too.”

* * *

 

Of course, everyone found out about the sweaters the next day. It was Cooper Barton’s fault, and that is who he’d blame. He’d come to steal from Darcy’s sticker collection.  And he saw the sweaters. After laying out all 12 and staring at them, they had decided to pretend that somehow the sweaters got lost in the mail. Darcy had emphatically told him that she would not wear a single one of the ugly sweaters if it was an option, no matter how much her parents wanted her too. If lying could smooth things over and prevent a family argument, they were going to do it. He could tell there was another story there, a part she was holding back, but he didn’t press. So they would pretend they never received the sweaters.

Then Cooper told Clint.

And then their plan was ruined.

Clint, who was “casually” hanging outside of their rooms when they left for the morning.

“So, I heard you got some Christmas sweaters. Epically ugly, I heard.”

“Excuse me, I’m going to kill Clint’s first born.”

“No need to kill my child, he loves ugly Christmas sweaters. So do the wife and I. And Lila. And Nate, if he understood what Christmas was other than fun lights and a man in a red suit.” Clint told her. “We’ve got our own stack.”

“Good, you can have ours if you promise I never have to see another ugly Christmas sweater in my life.” Darcy told Clint before kissing Steve on the cheek.

“I thought it was a family tradition of yours…”

“They care so much about how ‘selfish’ I’ve been and how much everything is affecting them and their lives, they don’t seem to give two shits about their youngest daughter, so they can go suck an egg. Now, excuse me, I have actual work to do.” They both watched as Darcy stalked off in a huff.

“I don’t get it – she loves ugly sweaters. Lived for them in New Mexico. She and Jane used to annoy probie agents assigned to them on their searches for the ugliest sweaters imaginable.” Clint said, then looked at Steve.

“Jane.” They said in unison.

“I’ll get rid of the sweaters…”

“Don’t throw them out. Just – get them out of our apartment for the time being.”

“Sure thing Cap.”

 

He found Darcy an hour later, under her desk. He moved her chair before sitting on the ground across from her.

“I put off my career for Jane. By luck and fate I’m here now, doing what I wanted to do – but I gave up so much of me because she was my friend. She saw me – I thought she did. Or she did and maybe we just grew a part. She got that it sucked growing up because I was different and not like my parents or my sisters – I was just me. I was weird and inappropriate – but we clicked. So I gave up…I was going to get my masters, then go to law school. I wanted to work at the UN. I wanted to save the world, which seems so pathetic and so tiny now. With everything…”

“Darcy…”

“There were obviously positives. I travelled. I met you. And now I’m here and…”

“I realized we never talked about why you came here. I never asked, I was just so happy you were here. But clearly…”

“I was reading the accords. It was just after Romania and I was terrified for you. I knew – the moment they confirmed Ross, after everything, as Secretary of State, I knew something was up. It…Nigeria only gave them an opening, the Accords were coming either way. And Jane said it didn’t affect us. And then she implied a lot of things. Here’s a woman who can rip a hole in time and space and she wants Secretary Ross to have full control over some of the most powerful people on the planet to basically use as his own personal security force because what – she’s mad Thor is literally a space Prince and duties other than being at her beck and call. And then she asked me to fix her spanner. So I did. I told her I was going to lunch and I disappeared.”

“You didn’t…”

“By then I’d gotten Clint’s text. If I said I was leaving, she’d have ratted me out. I’d have never gotten out of that building. We were in San Fran so I was able to get to Scott to get him on the road and then I went to Natasha’s safe house there, waited.  It took 4 days for Jane to realize I was gone.”

“And the sweaters?”

“It started as a family tradition from Beth – my oldest sister, to mock me. I like old man sweaters. I like layers.  I always have. I’m always cold. So one year she got us all ugly Christmas sweaters. I loved mine. My family thought I was hysterical that I didn’t get the joke…”

“How old were you?”

“11, maybe? 12? So it stuck. And I started hating Christmas sweaters, until Janie and I had Christmas together that first year, after Thor and New York…we reclaimed them. It wasn’t so bad. They’d always send one for ‘my boyfriend’ and it was clear Beth never thought I’d land a guy – so Jane would wear it. But here we are, and here I am with a box of sweaters that are meant to mock me and my best friend’s not talking to me…I usually love Christmas but maybe I’ll just sit it out this year.”

* * *

He went to Natasha first, for her help in planning. He was smart enough to know that he needed help, someone to execute his plans. Natasha would do that for Darcy in a heartbeat. Darcy loved Christmas. It was her favorite time of year. Last Christmas she was the only reason it was even slightly bearable; she’d decorated his room and the facility’s common areas, before setting up a cookie swap station, ornament decorating – she’d gone all out, realizing that this would be Wanda’s first Christmas without her brother.

She barely knew Wanda but her instinct was to make everything better for her. It had endeared her to Natasha, and an easy friendship was established. Natasha was intensely protective of Darcy, so if they were going to make Christmas special for her, he wanted Natasha there to help.

He’d been a selfish boyfriend and hadn’t realized how much she’d been hurting, and he refused to dim any more of her spirit.

 

Wanda was the first to volunteer. Wanda, who Darcy took under her wing when they both arrived at the compound after Ultron. Darcy took one look at Wanda and decided she needed to learn how to knit. While watching Disney movies. And eating ice cream. Darcy made Christmas better for Wanda last year, so she was going to repay that kindness.

Wanda loved Darcy and so it was her job to keep Darcy occupied while they set up a Christmas explosion in their common area. Darcy may have wanted to sit out this year, but he was going to create a Christmas Wonderland, with their own traditions.

Screw everything else.

So Wanda appeared in their apartment with ice cream and new yarn while he went to set everything up.

 

The rest followed shortly after. It became a mish-mash of their traditions. Laura, Cooper, Lila (with a slight assist from baby Nate) made cookies and various other treats, while Clint, T’Challa, and Sam brought in and set up the tree. Scott and Natasha helped him with the various decorations around the room, including the stockings that Natasha made.  

 

Three hours later, it looked like their entire compound threw up Christmas.

It was time to get Darcy and Wanda so they could decorate the tree.

 

“Hey, Lewis, Wanda, get your asses out here –“ Clint yelled. Darcy rolled her eyes.

“What mess do you think he made this time that he wants us to help blame on his kids?”

“I’m guessing a big one. He sounds worried.” Wanda told her. “Come on, let’s see what he did.”

 

The room was covered in various types of tinsel and twinkly lights. There was a giant tree in the middle of the room, covered in lights, boxes of ornaments next to it.

Then she noticed them.

Their stockings. Each and every single one made from one of the ugly Christmas sweaters she had received from her family. One for every single one of them, including Bucky.

Even little Nate Barton’s was one of the sweaters.

“I get that you wanted to sit out Christmas, because things have been rough this year – “ Steve began, looking at Darcy, “but it’s even more of a reason to celebrate. We’re a family here – and we need our own traditions.” Steve told her. “You’re the one who’s been keeping us all together and sane, and you’re the only one who really had a choice as to whether you’d be here or not…”

“Hey…” Laura interjected. Darcy turned and rolled her eyes at her friend.

“You married Barton. You always knew you’d end up on the run.” She teased, before turning back to Steve. “Thank you. And I never had a choice – I’d be where you are, no matter what. I love you.”

“I love you too. Merry Christmas Darcy.”

“Merry Christmas Steve.” 

* * *

Her parents and sisters received belated Christmas Cards this year, the mantle with just her and Steve’s ugly Christmas sweater stockings. And a note:

“Merry Christmas from our family to yours – I’ve finally found an appropriate use for all those ugly sweaters. Have a Happy New Year. Love, Darcy and Steve.”


End file.
